Thorsten Hofe

The addition of a light scattering detector dramatically increases the capabilities of gel permeation chromatography/size-exclusion chromatography (GPC/SEC) analysis. However, the complexity of the system also increases. This instalment of Tips & Tricks discusses column issues when working with light scattering detectors.

Gel permeation chromatography/size-exclusion chromatography (GPC/SEC) is the standard method to separate samples by molecular size. In protein analysis, size-exclusion chromatography is either applied to detect and quantify aggregation, or to measure the complete molar mass distribution. However, method development is not trivial and the choice of suitable detection options is crucial.